The invention relates to an upwardly directed douche on a seat of a toilet bowl.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,875,450 discloses an upwardly directed douche of the type mentioned above which, in the seat, has a plurality of douche heads which can be extended into the rinsing position. The douche heads are connected, via a line, to a water heater which is designed as a flow heater and is arranged in the seat. The flow heater has a pipe in which a heating element is arranged. For temperature control, use is made of a mechanically adjustable needle valve which restricts the flow rate of the rinsing water. This design has decisive properties which prevent the intended use from being realized in practice. The flow heater supplies cold water at the beginning of the rinsing operation and then either excessively cold or excessively hot water, since precise adjustment, in particular of the needle valve, is not possible. Pressure fluctuations in the water system thus result in temperature fluctuations or even in overheating of the rinsing water. Moreover, the seat is cold in the rest position since it can only be heated when rinsing water flows through the flow heater. The heating operation, however, usually only takes place upon completion of use, once the seat has already been heated by the user""s body heat, and further heating would no longer be necessary at all.
There is also then the risk of the seat, with the flow heater active, becoming too hot. Finally, the upwardly directed douche is a closed system in which it is possible for water to be returned from the flow heater and for waste water possibly to be taken in from the toilet bowl.
CH-A-453 242 discloses a further upwardly directed douche with a douche head which can be pivoted into the rinsing position. This upwardly directed douche has proven very successful. The disadvantage, however, is that the upwardly directed douche is of relatively voluminous construction since the water heater and various control elements are fitted laterally on a seat carrier and take up a lot of space.
The object of the invention is to improve an upwardly directed douche of the type mentioned in the introduction.
Pursuant to this object, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one aspect of the present invention resides in an upwardly directed douche for a seat of a toilet bowl, which douche comprises a toilet seat, a douche head which can be extended into a rinsing position, a water heater in the seat, and a line that connects the douche head to the water heater. The water heater has a water chamber at least in a front part of the seat, an electric heating element arranged in the water chamber and a thermostat operatively connected to the heating element so as to control the heating element. Since the water heater arranged in the seat is designed as a water chamber with an electric heating element rather than as a flow heater, decisive advantages are attained along with a small, compact overall volume. The water chamber forms a system which has a relatively large volume and, in contrast to a flow heater, which only heats in the course of water consumption, is heated even when there is no need for any hot water. This allows straightforward and more accurate temperature regulation which can bring the water volume to the desired temperature and keep it there. The temperature regulation is unaffected by pressure fluctuations in the water supply and prevents the water from being detrimentally overheated. Hot water at the desired temperature is thus always immediately available for the rinsing operation over a relatively long period of time and the seat is already heating to a comfortable temperature for use.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the water heater may also have a safety thermostat, which is adjusted to the maximum admissible temperature.
It is possible, in principle, for the water supply and water discharge lines of the water heater to be arranged at any desired location on the seat. However, in order to prevent air-bubble formation in the water chamber, pursuant to another aspect of the invention, the douche head has openings located substantially at a highest point of the water chamber.
According to a further embodiment, the upwardly directed douche is provided with a line separator and a control valve, these being combined equiaxially, according to the invention, to form a bar-like structural unit. This produces a small structural unit which may readily be arranged in the rear part of the seat. In still another embodiment of the invention the line separator has a control piston which can be displaced in a cylinder part and has a coaxial injector through-passage with a nozzle directed towards a chamber which is connected to the water heater via a non-return valve. A spring is provided so as to prestress the control piston into a rest position in which, in an absence of water pressure, a connection between the control valve and the injector through-passage is interrupted by the control valve and the chamber is connected to a line which opens out into the toilet bowl and is closed when the control piston, with the control valve open, is displaced into a switching position. The non-return valve is directed toward the chamber and can be opened by an injector jet from the injector through-passage. This non-return valve prevents the hot water from being able to empty out of the water chamber, and pass into the water supply line, in an undesired manner.
It is possible for the douche head to be extended, for example, by a suitable push-button control means or a servo mechanism.
In still another embodiment of the invention an actuating lever is arranged laterally on the seat and connected to a pivot pin arranged on the seat and connected to the douche head so that the douche head can be extended by the actuating lever. This actuating lever provides straightforward and reliable actuation of the douche head. In a further embodiment an eccentric is arranged on the pivot pin of the douche head. A coupling device connects the eccentric to the control valve in terms of drive. The coupling device has a channel which is arranged between the eccentric and the control valve and is filled with contact elements for passing on control pulses from the eccentric to the control valve. This provides an effective, space-saving construction of the coupling device.
A cost-effective and compact construction is provided by another embodiment of the invention in which the seat has two rear articulations about which the seat can be swung up. Each articulation includes an articulation bolt. Each of the articulation bolts has either a water supply line or an electric supply line arranged therein.